Ramp connecting Interstate 80, State Route 12 to open soon

A crowd gathers beneath the new Interstate 80/State Route 12 connector ramp along westbound I-80 in Fairfield for a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday. The connector, part of the I-80/I-680/SR-12 Interchange Project, will be opening later this month.
Jessica Rogness — The Reporter

Daryl Halls, executive director of the Solano Transportation Authority, speaks at the podium during a ribbon cutting ceremony at the I-80/SR-12 connector ramp.
Jessica Rogness — The Reporter

A new ramp in Fairfield connecting westbound Interstate 80 and westbound State Route 12 will be opening at the end of the month, according to the California Department of Transportation.

Caltrans will begin shifting westbound I-80 traffic to the new ramp, which along with the new Green Valley Road overcrossing completes the first of seven phases of the I-80/I-680/SR-12 Interchange Project.

Safety and mobility are the top priorities of the STA, Norman Richardson, chair of the agency’s board of directors, said, and this project will help reduce both regional and truck traffic and improve safety.

More than 150,000 motorists travel daily through this interchange built in the 1960s, according to Caltrans.

“It really is amazing the work we’re able to do with the limited resources we have,” said Solano County Supervisor and Metropolitan Transportation Commissioner Jim Spering, who wears two hats but said he spoke as the MTC Tuesday.

This interchange spans a political career, he said, and the next generation of elected officials will be dealing with it too.

“When this opens, there will be a very audible sigh of relief,” said Fairfield Mayor Harry Price.

Businesses are looking to locate on corridors that “don’t need a heart bypass,” he added.

“There are seven steps to happiness,” Price said. “This is the first one.”

Elected officials and executive leadership of the agencies involved in this project both stressed the importance of collaboration in the face of a lack of funding.

Sixty years ago, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Interstate System Act, Matt Schmitz, Director of Project Delivery for the Federal Highway Administration, said, and today, it’s about complete.

But there are needed improvement projects like this one, he said.

“Over the course of the last 60 years, the federal government has invested your money, my money, up to the tune of $1 trillion,” Schmitz said.

This first phase cost about $67 million, according to Caltrans. Some $15 million came from Proposition 1B, a transportation bond approved by California voters in 2006.

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Upcoming phases will include a new interchange at Red Top Road and I-680, a new westbound connector ramp from westbound I-80 to southbound I-680, a realignment of I-680 between I-80 and the Lopes Road exit, a realignment of the connector ramp from SR-12 to eastbound I-80, new entrance and exit ramps and the extension of some local streets leading to I-80 and SR-12.

These next segments are still in need of funding, Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty said.

You don’t eat an elephant in one bite, said Congressman John Garamendi, referencing an African proverb.

He was critical of the federal government for failing to fund transportation projects, which he called the foundation of economic growth, but said the state government has been making progress.

With Senator Jim Beall, chair of the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing, Assemblyman Jim Frazier, D-Solano, chair of the Assembly Committee on Transportation, announced he is developing a funding bill for transportation that he said addresses both local streets and state highways and will be “loaded with reforms” on government spending.

“More is happening in Solano County than in any other county in my district,” said Assemblyman Bill Dodd, D-Solano, a former Metropolitan Transportation Commissioner.

Solano is the only county in the Bay Area to not have a sales tax measure for transportation, Spering said.

Measure H, a half-cent sales tax measure that would have raised nearly $40 million for upgrades and maintenance to local streets and roads in the eight major cities, was rejected by voters in June.

“Hopefully we will address this issue again in the future,” Spering said.